Water heater



sept 5, 1950 H. x. KINZELMANN 2,521,462

WATER HEATER Filed Aug. 9, 1945 INVENTOR flarrqlifmzelmann BY u ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 5, 1950 U ED PATEN FF 7 ,WATER HEATER V Harry X. Kinz elmann, New York, N. Y.

= Application August 9, 1945, Serial No. 609,803

f- 33 Claims. (01. 126362) This-inventionrelates to hotwater supply and '7 is herein illustratedin sorn'edejtail as embodied in a domestic hot water heater adapted to utilize :a large amount of the heat now wasted by going up the chimney fromthe usual fire jof. a waterheating or house-heating unit. a

Many households obtain their hot water for washing from oil burners which operate intermittently, or from water-legs in coal burning furnaces, and both the oil burners and the coal furnaces send a ood proportion of their heat up the chimney, sometimes heating it .to a dangerously high temperature.

' Chimney gases. at those temperatures carry wasted heat, and the present invention provides a simple, economical and safe way forusing the previously Wasted heat, by causing it to heat household water and thus turn theheat into useful Work.

In the form showninsom'e detail, these and other useful results are obtained by connecting the usual form of hot-water storage tank to a coil or pipe in the usual chimney flue so that cold water circulates through the coil and, into the storage tank. V I

The cold water feed maybe so connected to the tank that all the coldwater is preliminarily heated before entering the storage tank with the result that the usual water; heating connections normally need only maintainthestored-water at the desired temperature. Thus-a large proportion of the heat now requiredto heat household water is saved, and this saving has in some cases amounted to one-third of, the fuel used;

Other features and advantageswill hereinafter appear. 7

One object of the invention is to utilize hitherto wastedheat. a x

; Another object of the invention is to reduce the temperatures in chimneys carrying furnace gases at an unduly high temperature.

Another objectis to preliminarily heat water entering a hot water storage tank.

Another object is to economize on fuel.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment has been shown for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 diagrammatically illustrates one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 diagrammatically illustrates how the invention may be applied to a common steam boiler equipment.

In Fig. 1 an oil-fired domestic heating furend ll.

nace, heater, or hot water boiler I is shown as connected by a damperless flue 2 to a stack or chimney 3. For convenience of description the part I will be referred to generally as a furnace. The furnace I is shown as adapted to heat water in a horizontal cylindrical storage tank 4 by a hot water delivery pipe 5 and a cold water downfeed pipe B, which are only conventionally shown as connected respectively to the top and bottom of the tank 4, so that cooler water flows down through the pipe 6 and heated water rises through the pipe 5. To efiect this preferably the tank 4 is Well above the level at which downflowing water delivered by the pipe 6 isheated. V In the form of the invention illustrated-in some detail the supply of cold water comes through a main 1, and flows first to a preliminary heating system shown as including a coil 8 extending upwardly in the chimney 3above the flue Z.

'. .The cold water entering the coil 8, rises to the top as the gases in the chimney heat it and is shown as flowing off through a downflow vertical pipe 9, which, if desired, may also lie within the flue 3.

The down-flow pipe 9 may leave the chimney 3 close to the pipe 8, thus avoiding the need for two openings in the wall of the chimney 3. a

.The pipe 9 is shown asconnected through a pipe III with a point spaced above the lower part of the tank 4, and, in the form shown, the pipe Ill enters the tank 4 about at the center of an To enable the'water in the tank 4 to circulate through the coil 8, even when no water is entering through the main I, the pipe Bis shownas connected by'a pipe I2 to the main 1 close to the chimney 3, and the pipe I2 is shown as including a check valve I3 to permit cold water to flow .out of the bottom of theft'ank 4, tothe coilB, and back, entering the tank through the pipe I ll.

Normally, when no water is being drawn, and, when the furnace I is hot and the chimney 3 is hot, water in the tank 4 circulates out through the pipes 6 and I 2, and returns through the pipes 5 and I0.

When a faucet I4, in the hot water line I5 is turned on to draw oif hot water from the tank 4 cold water flows in from the main 1, through the coil 8, the pipes 9 and I0 and into the tank 4 at the center of the end I I, the check valve I3 preventing water from the main I entering the tank through pipe I2.

Thus it comes about that the hot water in the tank 4 may be drawn 01? until the pipe 9 and coil 8are emptied before cold water materially dilutes the hot water coming to the faucet I4.

In the form shown in Fig. 2 the furnace or hot water boiler I, heats down-flowing cold water delivered by the pipe 6, by passing it through a coil IS in a heat exchanger II, conventionally shown as delivering the heated water to the pipe 5. The heating is accomplished in the form shown by drawing hot water from the furnace I by a manifold 18 which .delivers it to the top H] of the heat exchanger 1 7, while water is returned from the exchanger I! to the bottom of the furnace l at 20.

To best obtain the foregoing results the pipe l2 should be well below the tank 4, and the coil 8 has been found satisfactory when about 190 .feet long.

The operation of the device is exceedinglysimple, yet it is effective to deliver hot water much more satisfactorily than ordinary hot-water systems by reason of the fact that cold water enters through the coil 8 where it is at least confined and often is fully heated. Thus when a draw-off faucet i4 is turned on, the hottest water in the tank 4 is drawn on, diluted only by the water in the long coil '8 which may the hot, even hotter than the water in the tank, since the cold water that comes down the main 7 to keep pressure on the faucet I4 is blocked by the check valve 13 and has to pass through the coil 8 before it enters the tank 4.

If water is drawn slowly from a faucet 14, not only is the incoming water heated in the coil 8, but other heat is, at the same time, supplied by the hot water rising through the pipe 5, thus a double heating eifect is obtained at no extra cost.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and Without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understoodthat all matter herein is tobe interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A water heating system comprising the combination of a storage tank, a pair of water heating means each adapted to be exposed to a separate source of "heat, outlet and inlet conduits connecting said storage tank with each of said water heating means, and flow-control means in one .of said connecting conduits operativelyintermediate said storage tank and one of said water heating means and operatively intermediate each of said pair of water heating means and directing flow of make-up-water initially to only one of said water heating means.

2. A water heating system comprising the com bination of a storage tank, a pair of water heating means, outlet and inlet conduits connecting said storage tank with a first of said water. heating means, outlet and inlet conduits connecting said storage tank with a second of said water heating means and also with said first Water heating means, a make-up-water inlet conduit connected with the inlet conduit to said second water heating means, and flow-control means in the inlet conduit to said second water heating means, and

operatively intermediate said pair of water heat ing means, and barring fresh make-up-water against entry into said storage tank and against entry into one of said water heating means until after passage of said fresh make-up-water through the other of said water heating means.

3. A water heating system comprising the combination of a storage tank, first waterv heating means, outlet and inlet conduits connecting said first water heating means with said storage tank, second water heating means adapted tobe located within a chimney and normally exposed to hot gas-es'therein, an outlet conduit connecting said chimney water heating means with said storage tank, an :inlet conduit operatively connecting said chimney water heating means with said storage tank and with said first water heating means,'a,make-up-water inlet conduit connected with said latter-mentioned inlet conduit, and check valve means in said latter-mentioned inlet conduit intermediate said make-up-water conduit connection and said first water heating means directing flow of incoming make-up-water to said chimney water heating means prior to said make-up-water reaching said storage tank and said first water heatin means.

HARRY X. KINZELIVLANN.v

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in. the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 347,463 Boyer Aug. 17, 1886 352,375 Tucker Nov. 9, 1886 914,085 Supper Mar. 2, 1909 1,379,581 Smith May 24, 1921 1,486,475 Birney Mar. 11, 1924 1,651,692 1 Geas'len Dec. 6, 1927 1,730,736 Knudsen Oct. 8, 1929 1,807,481 Klein May 26, 1931 1,856,504 Parkinson May 3, 1932 1,948,735 Russo Feb. 27, 1934 2,166,355 Higgins et al. July 18, 1939 2,262,748 'Berman Nov. 18, 1941 

